Insect Science Investigations for Kids: Bees, Ants, and Wasps

For our final week in this series we have science activities and resources for learning more about bees, ants, and wasps, Order Hymenoptera.

1. What are the characteristics of ants, bees, and wasps?

One characteristic feature of the members of the order Hymenoptera is the presence of two pairs of membranous wings that are different in size. The forewings are larger than the hindwings.

Exceptions are the worker ants, which lack wings. The male and queen ants do have wings that fit this pattern.

Another feature of the order is that some of the females have an egg-laying tube, or ovipositor, that has been modified into a stinger. Some ants, bees, and wasps use stingers to defend themselves and their nestmates.

4. Ant anatomy

Ants and wasps are also unusual because although they look like they have the standard three body parts of most insects (head, thorax, and abdomen), the middle section actually contains some parts of the true abdomen. For that reason the parts are often given special names unique to the Hymenoptera.

Ask-a-biologist also has a detailed discussion of ant anatomy, although it uses slightly different terminology.

Additional Resources and Books:

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